NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, proudly honored U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and U.S. Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) as the 2024 NSSF Legislators of the Year for their combined determination to protect the firearm industry against the weaponization of the Biden Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security’s (BIS) onerous and politically-motivated attacks. Both Sen. Hagerty and Rep. Green led the charge to fight back against the punishing Interim Final Rule that is designed to hobble U.S. firearm manufactures by throttling exports.

Sen. Hagerty and Rep. Green were instrumental in drawing Congressional attention to abuses by the Biden administration’s BIS Interim Final Rule (IFR) titled “Revision of Firearms License Requirements,” that is contradictory to BIS’s guiding principles which include protecting U.S. National Security as well as economic security. The IFR added burdensome and unnecessary controls on firearm, ammunition and accessories exports to the United States’ much to the world. The punishing policy began as a “90-day pause” that extended more than 180 days and ultimately resulted in the IFR that shuttered firearm, ammunition and accessories exports to over 36 countries, costing U.S. firearm and ammunition companies nearly $500 million annually.

“We are honored to present Senator Bill Hagerty and Congressman Mark Green with the 2024 NSSF Legislator of the Year Award for their unwavering leadership on Capitol Hill to protect the firearm and ammunition industry,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “Both Senator Hagerty and Congressman Green were – and continue to be – instrumental in reigning in the weaponization of government agencies to carry out a politically-driven agenda. Their determination to bring accountability to government and correct the wrongful and abusive course set by the prior administration goes beyond measure. Our industry, and the American public, is deeply grateful for Senator Hagerty and Congressman Green’s fierce determination to protect our industry that makes exercise of the Second Amendment possible for all Americans.”

Sen. Hagerty and Rep. Green’s dogged pursuit of accountability by BIS officials was evident in numerous hearings both in the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and Rep. Green’s similar efforts in the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee. Both Sen. Hagerty and Rep. Green introduced NSSF-supported companion Congressional Review Act (CRA) Resolutions of disapproval in their respective chambers as S.J. Res. 93 and H.J. Res. 164, denouncing the BIS rule.

Rep. Green introduced legislation to block the Biden administration’s overreach, the NSSF-supported H.R. 8208, the Stop the Bureaucratic Ineptitude Shuttering Respectable and Upstanding Lawful Exporters Act (Stop the BIS RULE Act). Additionally, Sen. Hagerty also introduced the NSSF-supported S. 4075, the Protect Privacy in Purchases Act, to protect the Second Amendment privacy of firearm and ammunition purchasers from financial service and payment card providers compiling purchase history.

Both Sen. Hagerty and Rep. Green earned an “A+” on NSSF’s 2024 Congressional Report Card, with Rep. Green also being named to NSSF’s “Dean’s List,” with a 100 percent voting and co-sponsorship record for NSSF priority legislation.

For more information, visit nssf.org.